Homelessness

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many homeless households on average were in (a) temporary accommodation and (b) bed and breakfast accommodation in Wales in each year from 1990–91 to the establishment of the National Assembly for Wales.

Don Touhig: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		Homeless households accommodated temporarily on31 December (1) , (2)
		
			   Bed and breakfast All types of temporary accommodation 
		
		
			 1990(3) 141 1,011 
			 1991 242 1,214 
			 1992 248 1,032 
			 1993(4) 108 764 
			 1994 64 611 
			 1995 62 548 
			 1996 86 509 
			 1997 78 692 
			 1998 69 846 
			 1999 69 850 
		
	
	(1) 1990–96 data relate to the period when cases of homelessness were dealt with under the Housing Act 1985
	(2) From 1997 onwards cases are dealt with under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996. Households found to be eligible unintentionally homeless and in priority need.
	(3) Figures exclude the estimated 2,000 households made homeless in Colwyn as a result of the major flooding incident in February 1990, for whom no breakdown by action of local authority is available.
	(4) Figures exclude the estimated 237 households made homeless in Aberconwy as a result of the flooding incident in Llandudno during June 1993, for whom no breakdown by action of local authority is available
	Source:
	Welsh Office/Welsh Assembly WHO12 returns number

Ministerial Engagements

John Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the Ministerial engagements (a) out of London and (b) in London that he has cancelled since 1 January 2004.

Peter Hain: There is no record kept of cancelled engagements in Wales Office Minister's diaries. When engagements have had to be cancelled, wherever possible we try to re-instate them at a later date. All engagements are subject to ministerial and parliamentary business.

Bird Population

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent reports the Department has assessed relating to the reduction in the number of species of birds in the United Kingdom and the implications for the bird population of the United Kingdom.

Ben Bradshaw: Defra annually monitors the numbers of a whole range of birds, through the Breeding Bird Survey. This survey, conducted and funded jointly by the British Trust for Ornithology, the RSPB and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, assesses trends in the numbers of common species of birds across the country. A range of other surveys, funded by these organisations, assesses trends in scarcer species. Annual reports are produced for each of the surveys, but summary information derived from them is contained in the report The State of the UK's Birds 2003 1 , which was published in July 2004.
	This report revealed:
	The UK wild bird indicator, a barometer of the fortunes of breeding birds in the UK, for all species showed a slight decline between 2000 and 2002, but has stayed relatively stable since the early 1980s.
	Continuing decreases in species such as the lesser spotted woodpecker, willow tit and wood warbler.
	Considerable mixed fortunes in the trends in commoner breeding birds with decreases in populations of turtle doves, corn buntings, house sparrows and starlings, but short term increases in tree sparrows, stone chats and kingfishers.
	The report recognised encouraging progress towards meeting species' targets in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan where concerted conservation action has resulted in increases in numbers of bitterns, corncrakes, stone-curlews and cirl buntings—all species that were at serious risk of extinction as recently as the mid-1990s. Whilst there is no reason for complacency, indications are that the dramatic rate of long-term decline in overall bird populations may have been halted.
	1 Eaton M.A., Noble D.G., Cranswick P.A., Carter N., Wotton S., Ratcliffe N., Wilson A., Hilton G.M., and Gregory R.D., 2004. The State of the UK's Birds 2003. BTO, the RSPB and WWT, Sandy.

Burnside Farm

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on what date a Government Minister was first informed of the existence of the video of Burnside Farm taken by Northumberland Trading Standards on 24 February 2001.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 29 November 2005
	My noble Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Lords) and my hon. Friend, the Minister of State (Environment), saw extracts of the video when they were shown widely in the television news media at the time of Robert Waugh's trial in May 2002. The video was brought to Ministers' attention again as a result of the recent interest in it that was generated by pig swill campaigners.

Burnside Farm

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  whether (a) Ministers and (b) officials in the (i) Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and (ii) her Department had been informed of the existence of the (A) James Dring Report, (B) Northumberland Trading Standards video and report, (C) scientific test samples sent to Pirbright and (D) results of those test samples, in respect of the Burnside Farm, Heddon-on-the-Wall, foot and mouth disease outbreak in 2001, (1) prior to and (2) during the period of the Dr. Iain Anderson FMD Inquiry in 2001–02;
	(2)  whether the (a) James Dring Report, (b) Northumberland Trading Standards video and report, (c) scientific test samples sent to Pirbright and (d) results of those test samples in respect of the Burnside Farm, Heddon-on-the-Wall, foot and mouth disease outbreak in 2001 were (i) supplied to the Chairman of the Lessons to be Learned Inquiry in 2001 and (ii) the subject of minuted informal meetings in (A) the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and (B) her Department in (1) 2001 and (2) 2002;
	(3)  what assessment was made of the suitability of the (a) James Dring Report, (b) Northumberland Trading Standards video and report, (c) scientific test samples sent to Pirbright and (d) results of those test samples in respect of the Burnside Farm, Heddon-on-the-Wall, foot and mouth disease outbreak in 2001, to be forwarded to Dr Iain Anderson for his inquiry in 2001–02.

Ben Bradshaw: Ministers were briefed about and had access to Mr. Dring's personal statement in the week beginning 8 March 2004. Officials knew about Mr. Dring's statement prior to and during the period of the FMD 2001: Lessons to be Learned Inquiry, chaired by Dr. Iain Anderson
	Mr. Dring's personal statement was not submitted to the Lessons to be Learned Inquiry, as there was concern that the contents would have been prejudicial to Mr. Waugh's trial at which Mr. Dring was a witness of fact, rather than an expert witness, had the statement received publicity beforehand. The contemporaneous notes of Mr. Dring's visits to Burnside were given to Dr. Anderson. Mr. Dring also contributed fully to the investigations on the origins of the foot-and mouth (FMD) outbreak 2001, submitted by the then Chief Veterinary Officer to the Inquiry. This Origins of FMD report was based on wide-ranging evidence and rigorous investigation and was published by Dr. Anderson. Defra has no record of minutes of informal meetings being made or submitted to the inquiry.
	Ministers and Dr. Anderson have said it was regrettable that the Mr. Dring's statement was not sent to the inquiry. However, Dr. Anderson has stated that had he seen Mr. Dring's statement at that time it would not have changed any conclusions or recommendations of his inquiry.
	The circumstances surrounding Mr. Dring's visit to Burnside Farm were discussed with the Lessons Learned Inquiry Team on 4 March 2002; a note of the meeting was also published by Dr. Anderson.
	Defra has known about the video since it was first being made in so far as a Veterinary Officer was present on Burnside Farm on 24 February 2001, when filming took place. We have no record of Ministers being expressly informed of the existence of the video until recently. The Under-Secretary of State (Lords) became aware of the video when extracts were shown in the television news media at the time of Robert Waugh's trial in May 2002. It was brought to Ministers' attention again as a result of the media and parliamentary interest in the video that was generated by the Farmers Weekly in October this year. I am not aware of any associated report written by Northumberland county council.
	The report of the FMD 2001: Lessons to be Learned Inquiry, chaired by Dr. Iain Anderson, was published on 22 July 2002. Defra has no record of being sent a copy of the video by Northumberland county council before February 2003. Northumberland county council did not release any copies of the video before the trial of Mr. Waugh in May 2002, after Dr. Anderson had stopped receiving evidence for his Lessons to be Learned Inquiry.
	Officials were aware made aware of the scientific tests results on the samples taken at Burnside Farm, as soon they were available, resulting in Defra confirming disease on Burnside farm on 23 February. Details of the samples and the results of the tests are set out in the Origins of FMD report submitted to the Anderson Inquiry.
	As set out in the Origins of FMD report, samples were taken at Burnside Farm on 22 February, which included epithelium samples from two pigs and 20 blood samples taken from other pigs on the premises. On 24 February further sampling was carried out when FMD experts from the Institute for Animal Health, Pirbright and an epidemiological team from Defra visited the farm. 88 per cent. of the 241 pigs blood sampled on that day were seropositive for FMD Type O antibodies.
	I would also refer the hon. Member to the statement I made on 13 December about the video of Burnside Farm.

Environmental Sustainability Index

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs where the UK ranks in the Environmental Sustainability Index; and what the rankings are of other EU countries.

Elliot Morley: The UK ranks 91st in the current 2002 Environmental Sustainability Index. The ranks for other EU countries are shown in the following table. We understand that an updated Index is to be published by the end of February.
	The UK and other countries believe this index is flawed and potentially misleading. It is an aggregated indicator that aims to weigh together many components into a single overall measure of "environmental sustainability", an approach that as yet is not scientifically robust. The choice of the components, and the way in which they are weighted together is largely subjective. A different choice of components or weights would give different results—amply illustrated by the fact that the previous edition of this index, based on a different selection of components, placed the UK 16th. Furthermore, there are still many areas where data are not sufficiently comparable between countries, or are simply not available and have been imputed. It should also be noted that the variables in this index tend to measure circumstances at a single point in time rather than trends or changes, therefore to the extent the index measures anything at all, it is based on the environmental situation which a country faces rather than its progress or performance in improving environmental Sustainability.
	
		2002 Environmental sustainability index rankings by EU country
		
			 Rank Country ESI score 
		
		
			 1 Finland 73.9 
			 3 Sweden 72.6 
			 7 Austria 64.2 
			 10 Latvia 63.0 
			 11 Hungary 62.7 
			 14 Slovakia 61.6 
			 18 Estonia 60.0 
			 23 Slovenia 58.8 
			 27 Lithuania 57.2 
			 28 Portugal 57.1 
			 31 Denmark 56.2 
			 33 France 55.5 
			 34 Netherlands 55.4 
			 37 Ireland 54.8 
			 44 Spain 54.1 
			 50 Germany 52.5 
			 60 Greece 50.9 
			 64 Czech Republic 50.2 
			 84 Italy 47.2 
			 87 Poland 46.7 
			 91 United Kingdom 46.1 
			 125 Belgium 39.1 
			 — Cyprus — 
			 — Luxembourg — 
			 — Malta — 
		
	
	Source:
	Global Leaders of Tomorrow Task Force of the World Economic Forum in association with Yale Centre for Environmental Law and Policy and Columbia University www.ciesin.columbia.edu/indicators/ESI.

EU Directives

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the infrastructure proceedings pending against the UK Government arising from the failure to comply with EU environmental directives, indicating those which relate exclusively to (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland.

Elliot Morley: I assume the hon. Member means infraction proceedings pending against the UK Government. At present there are three cases pending at the European Court of Justice on environmental directives, none of which are related exclusively to England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
	The three cases are:
	
		
			 Directive number Nature of the case 
		
		
			 1992/43/EC Habitats sites list 
			 1992/43/EC Natural Habitats of wild fauna and flora 
			 1992/43/EC UK trade in Annex IV species and application of the birds and habitats directive

Waste/Waste Performance Reward Grant

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she will make an announcement on the operation of the Waste Performance Reward Grant for 2005–06.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 17 January 2005
	On 9 December 2004 Defra announced a three-year targeted Waste Performance and Efficiency Grant of £260 million to support new and more efficient ways to deliver waste reduction, increase recycling and diversion from landfill. As announced in Defra's Five Year Strategy on 8 December 2004, £5 million of the 2005–06 allocation will focus specifically on local authority incentives for households to recycle and reduce waste. This Grant replaces the Waste Performance Reward Grant. Details of the Grant, including allocations to individual local authorities, were made available on 9 December, and no further announcements are planned.

Army

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the size of the army will be after the proposed re-organisation; and what it was in 1997.

Geoff Hoon: The strength of the Army, including the Gurkhas, will remain broadly as it is today at around 103,500 until full Normalisation is achieved in Northern Ireland, when we expect it to reduce to around 102,000.
	The corresponding figure for April 1997 was 101,360.

British Military Bases (US Missiles)

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy to require prior parliamentary approval of the placement of US interceptor missiles within British military bases.

Geoff Hoon: There has been no request from the United States Government to base interceptor missiles anywhere in the United Kingdom. It has not been the practice of successive administrations to seek Parliamentary approval for decisions of this type. The Government would in any case seek to ensure that Parliament had adequate opportunity for debate on issues relating to missile defence.

David Axon

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence under what regulations Commander David Axon was removed from HMS Somerset in November 2004; what charges were laid against him; what procedures were adopted to hear and adjudicate on these charges; and what actions were taken as a result.

Ivor Caplin: Commander David Axon was removed from command of HMS Somerset in December 2004 under regulation BR 8373, Article 2026, following allegations which constituted a breach of Equal Opportunities policy.
	The findings and recommendations of the investigation were considered and acted upon in accordance with the procedures defined within BR 8373, Articles 2027 and 2028.
	Commander Axon has now been re-appointed to a non-command post ashore.

Gloster Meteor

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether a decision has been made on the future of the remaining Meteor jet at Llanbedr Airfield.

Ivor Caplin: Yes. The Ministry of Defence's Disposal Services Agency sold the aircraft by competitive tender in November 2004 to Everett Engineers of Sproughton, Ipswich.

Iraq

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) stopped searching for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction; what proportion of the ISG's cost was met by the United Kingdom; and what the total United Kingdom financial commitment, including salaries of British personnel involved, was to the ISG.

Geoff Hoon: Following the conclusions of the Comprehensive Report of the Special Adviser to the Director Central Intelligence published on 30 September 2004, the Iraq Survey Group is no longer conducting an active programme of field investigations into weapons of mass destruction, but it does continue to investigate information relating to WMD as it becomes available.
	The net additional cost of activities undertaken by UK personnel attached to the ISG has been met by the UK and is included in the published costs of Operation Telic. It is not possible to either identify the net additional costs related solely to the work of the UK personnel in the ISG, or the proportion of total costs met by the UK.

Meteorological Office

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to review the financial resources available to the Meteorological Office; and if he will make a statement.

Ivor Caplin: The Meteorological Office is a Trading Fund within the Ministry of Defence. It receives revenue through two main channels.
	First, from the Government centrally, to fund the National Met Programme, which underpins the UK's meteorological capability. The programme and the resources required are agreed annually with the Met Office. The programme and the Met Office's performance is kept under review by an independent group of commissioners who represent the interests of all stakeholder departments. The commissioners report directly to me on a biannual basis, and contribute to the overall financial planning and resource allocation processes in the Ministry of Defence.
	Second, directly from customers in the public and private sectors, on agreed contractual terms. It is a matter for individual customer departments to keep the funds for their Met Office services under review in the course of normal business.
	In addition, the Met Office can if required seek loans or similar types of one-off financial support from the Ministry of Defence, as its parent department.

RAF Aldergrove

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the factors were that influenced his decision to locate at RAF Aldegrove the court martial of six Royal Marine instructors facing assault charges connected with their conduct at Lympstone, Devon.

Ivor Caplin: The Military Court Centre at Aldergrove was deemed to be the most appropriate venue to accommodate this trial. It is a purpose built courtroom with modern facilities and is sufficiently large enough to handle a trial involving six defendants, their counsels and numerous witnesses.

Sickness Absence

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many days sick leave were taken by civil servants in the Department in each year since 1997; and what the sickness absence rate was in each year.

Ivor Caplin: The following tables show the numbers of days sickness absence for non-industrials and industrials in the Ministry of Defence since 1997.
	
		Number of days' sickness absence and the sickness absence rate for non-industrial civil servants in the Ministry of Defence 1997–2003 and financial year 2003–04
		
			  Sickness absence (working days) Absence rate 
		
		
			 1997(7) 573,0003 (9)8.4 
			 1998(7) 571,0003 (9)8.6 
			 1999(8) 538,7004 (10)8.1 
			 2000(8) 520,1004 (10)7.9 
			 2001(11) No reliable data available — 
			 2002(8) (10)465,200 (10)7.3 
			 2003(8) (10)481,000 (10)7.6 
			 FY 2003–04(8) (10)494,100 (10)7.8 
		
	
	(7) Excludes non-industrial Ministry of Defence staff in Trading Funds and Royal Fleet Auxiliaries. Rates are from the Annual Report "Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service" which is published by the Cabinet Office.
	(8) Excludes non-industrial Ministry of Defence staff in Trading Funds and Royal Fleet Auxiliaries. Rates are from UK Defence Statistics 2004 Table 2.35. Excludes obvious outliers.
	(9) The number of sickness days' absent is calculated using a staff year, which constitutes 225 working days (365 days less bank holidays, weekends and average annual leave) and corresponds to a full-time employee who has been continuously employed throughout the year. Those employees who have worked for only part of a year will be recorded as having worked a fraction of a staff year. For part-time staff, the staff year figure is based on the number of hours worked as a proportion of full-time hours.
	(10) Sickness absence days and rates are based on FTE working days lost. For example, if a part-time employee (working 50 per cent. full-time hours) is sick for seven calendar days, this is five working days lost and 2.5 FTE working days lost.
	(11) There is no sickness absence information for non-industrial Ministry of Defence staff available for 2001 for data quality reasons.
	
		Number of days' sickness absence and the sickness absence rate for industrial civil servants in the Ministry of Defence1997–2003 and financial year 2003–04
		
			  Sickness absence(12) (working days) Absence rate(12) 
		
		
			 1997(13) p337,100 p13.7 
			 1998(13) p376,800 p16.3 
			 1999(14) 320,900 12.9 
			 2000(15) No reliable data available — 
			 2001(14) 304,900 14.8 
			 2002(14) 259,700 14.8 
			 2003(14) 209,900 13.5 
			 FY 2003–04(14) 187,100 12.2 
		
	
	(12) Sickness absence days and rates are based on FTE working days lost. For example, if a part-time employee (working 50 per cent. full-time hours) is sick for seven calendar days, this is five working days lost and 2.5 FTE working days lost.
	(13) Excludes industrial Ministry of Defence Staff in Trading Funds and Royal Fleet Auxiliaries. Sickness absence records for industrial staff are not as robust as for non-industrial staff and the early years are marked as provisional.
	(14) Excludes industrial Ministry of Defence Staff in Trading Funds and Royal Fleet Auxiliaries. Rates are from UK Defence Statistics 2004 Table 2.35. Excludes obvious outliers.
	(15) There is no sickness absence information for industrial Ministry of Defence staff available for 2000 for data quality reasons.

Cycling (Rail Travel)

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps are being taken to promote the integration of rail and cycle travel, with particular reference to off-peak periods; and what mechanisms exist for co-ordinating transport and public health policies in respect of cycling.

Charlotte Atkins: We expect train operators and Network Rail to encourage bike and rail journeys in order to enable the bicycle to be used as part of a longer journey and to reduce car use. The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) published their Cycling Policy last year. The policy states that:
	there should be cycle parking at most stations over the next five years, so that 95 per cent. of journeys originate from stations with cycle parking;
	train operators should carry bikes at all times, whilst accepting that this will not always be possible during peak periods.
	The Department is providing over £500,000 to improve cycle parking at stations where a pressing need has been identified and last year published, with the Countryside Agency, Bike and Rail—A Good Practice Guide.
	In light of its keen interest in both cycling and walking, the Department has been active in development of public health policy. Ministers and officials were closely involved in cross-Government consideration of initiatives to raise levels of cycling, leading to commitments on cycle training and cycle commuting in the Public Health White Paper published in November last year. The Department of Health was also one of a number of Departments which contributed to Walking and Cycling: an Action Plan, published by the Department for Transport in June last year. The action plan contains more than 40 actions aimed at increasing cycling and walking, in light of the health, transport and environmental benefits.

Operational Improvements (Marlow)

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the statement by the hon. Member for Staffordshire, Moorlands (Charlotte Atkins) of 11 January 2005, Official Report, column 22WH, on operational improvements in Marlow, what assessment he has made of the improvements needed; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 17 January 2005
	No assessment has been made yet as the line has not been designated as a Community Railway, but the objective would be to provide greater capacity and flexibility in the operation of the line to Maidenhead.

Railways

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidelines his Department has issued on the maximum acceptable density of commuter rail passengers measured by number of passengers per square foot.

Tony McNulty: The Department has issued no such guidelines. Train operating companies when calculating capacity for peak period services use a figure of 0.45 sq metres per standing passenger and any counts which show that they are exceeding this figure will result in the Strategic Rail Authority asking them to look at ways of reducing the passenger loadings on their trains.

Railways

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the punctuality of railway service providers.

Tony McNulty: Rail Performance Statistics are published quarterly by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) in "National Rail Trends". The most recent edition was published in December 2004. Copies of "National Rail Trends" are placed in the House of Commons Library and published on the SRA's website.
	The moving annual average of the Public Performance Measure was 81.8 per cent. at 30 September 2004.

Roads

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many major road developments have not been the subject of a public inquiry in the last five years.

David Jamieson: In the last five years one major road development has not been the subject of a public inquiry. The major road development that has not been the subject of a public inquiry is M11 Stansted Slips. As there were no unresolved objections to the scheme, a public inquiry was not required.

Roads

Virginia Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what criteria were applied when his Department first separated trunk roads into national and regional schemes;
	(2)  which trunk roads have been downgraded from national to regional significance in the last 10 years; and what consultation took place on this issue.

David Jamieson: The Government's consultation paper—"Devolving Decision Making: A Consultation on Regional Funding Allocations"—set out our proposals to establish regional transport funding allocations.
	The consultation paper explained that the proposed regional transport funding allocations would initially bring together capital funding projected for major schemes (generally costing over £5 million each) under the Local Transport Plan (LTP) system and for major Highways Agency schemes, other than those on routes of national and international significance. To be regarded as being of national and international significance, a route has to satisfy all of the following criteria:
	To have average daily traffic flows, along the length of the route, of more than 60,000 vehicles
	To link at least two of the top 20 English cities by population; or link one of the top 20 cities with an airport/seaport or Wales/Scotland
	To carry heavy goods vehicle traffic equal to or in excess of 15 per cent. as a percentage of all traffic, as an average along the length of the route
	To be represented on the European Union's trans-European transport network
	In some cases these criteria were applied with a degree of flexibility.
	A map illustrating the application of these criteria to the trunk road network was provided as part of the current consultation exercise.
	These proposals will not lead to a downgrading in the importance of certain routes. The proposed regional funding allocations will give regions a far stronger base on which to plan, and will enable them to contribute to decisions that better reflect regional priorities.

Roads

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the working of the regional decision-making process in relation to the roads programme, with particular reference to the South West.

David Jamieson: holding answer 18 January 2005
	The detailed arrangements for the submission of advice to the Department from the region on the prioritisation of road schemes in their area will be announced in due course and will be subject to the outcome of the current consultation about long term funding guidelines. Copies of the consultation document "Devolving decision making: A consultation on regional funding allocations" are available in the House Libraries. We look forward to receiving the views of regional and local bodies in the South West and other regions on the consultation document.
	Under the proposals in the document, the Regional Assembly and the Regional Development Agency in each region would advise on the relative priority of road schemes alongside other transport proposals in the region and on the basis of long term regional funding guidelines. These bodies would be expected to consult widely within the region, including with local transport authorities, in framing their advice on priorities.

Fingerprinting

Peter Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fingerprint reading machines linked to the National Fingerprint Register are operated by police forces in the UK; and how many checks were carried out in each year since these machines became available.

Caroline Flint: holding answer 10 January 2005
	At present there are 198 Livescan Units in use in police forces in England and Wales, linked to the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS) to take fingerprints from arrestees.
	The number of identity checks 1 and submissions 2 carried out since the introduction of Livescan in England and Wales are as follows.
	1 An "identity check" is where a police officer takes the fingerprints of a person in custody only to check whether a record exists on the NAFIS Database.
	2 A "submission" is where the prints take from the-person in custody, is recorded on the NAFIS database and creates a Police National Computer (PNC) record. This process still includes an identity check.
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 2000 1,690 
			 2001 102,099 
			 2002 343,692 
			 2003 524,729 
			 2004 703,626 
		
	
	The steady increase in the number of fingerprints taken reflect the increasing use by forces of the technology.
	I understand from the Scottish Executive that police forces in Scotland started using Livescan Units in August 1997. There are now 33 Livescan units in use by Scottish forces.
	The number of identity checks and submissions carried out are:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1997–98 50,938 
			 1998–99 65,368 
			 1999–2000 68,000 
			 2000–01 60,792 
			 2001–02 61,349 
			 2002–03 60,467 
			 2003–04 64,735 
			 2004–05 (to 31 December 2004) 54,638 
		
	
	The Police Service of Northern Ireland is currently piloting the use of Livescan technology. One machine has been installed at a police station in Belfast, and has been operational since 4 October 2004. Between 4 October 2004 and 10 January 2005 this machine handled 200 identity checks and submissions. The results of the pilot scheme will be analysed and decisions on expanding the use of the technology will be taken in light of that analysis.

Departmental Expenditure

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the running costs of the Department were in each year since 1997, broken down by (a) electricity, (b) water, (c) gas, (d) telephones, (e) mobile telephones and (f) televisions.

Stephen Twigg: The information for my Department is as follows:
	
		
			   £ 
			 Financial year Electricity Water Gas Telephones Mobile phones Televisions 
		
		
			 2003–04 891,856 101,974 129,767 2,402,107 270,547 (16)— 
			 2002–03 916,600 131,969 132,642 1,981,214 353,955 (16)— 
			 2001–02 936,193 146,839 143,222 2,924,221 374,248 (16)— 
			 2000–01 836,678 108,331 116,990 3,076,291 329,196 (16)— 
			 1999–2000 1,000,879 121,895 84,643 2,975,587 218,889 (16)— 
			 1998–99 (16)— (16)— (16)— (16)— 168,298 (16)— 
			 1997–98 (16)— (16)— (16)— (16)— 170,045 (16)— 
		
	
	(16)—=This information is not held centrally and it would require a departmental trawl, at disproportionate cost.

Decommissioning

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent developments there have been on decommissioning in Northern Ireland.

Ian Pearson: There have been four acts of decommissioning to date. The latest act occurred on 21 October 2003, when the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning reported that it had witnessed a third event in which IRA weapons were put beyond use. The Prime Minister made clear at Leeds Castle, the Government regards the completion of decommissioning by paramilitary groups as essential to progress in Northern Ireland.

Peace Process

Nick Palmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the peace process.

Mr. Murphy: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave earlier.

Bank Security

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps are being taken to encourage banks and other premises where large amounts of cash are held to increase security.

Ian Pearson: I met with the Chief Executives of the four main banks in Northern Ireland last week to discuss how security systems can be further enhanced. I have asked the Armed Robbery Expert Group of the Organised Crime Task Force to look urgently at the lessons to be learned from this robbery and to report at the next meeting of the OCTF. The Banks and other major financial institutions already meet regularly with the police to discuss crime prevention.

Education

Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to broaden the types of religious and other value systems education available in schools in Northern Ireland.

Barry Gardiner: The Religious Education Core Syllabus is intended to comprise about half of the teaching time for RE, allowing schools scope to include other religions and value systems if they wish. I am awaiting proposals from the Churches for a revised core syllabus, which will also address the study of other world religions. In addition, citizenship education, which will cover issues such as religious diversity, is currently being piloted and will become compulsory from September 2006.

Paramilitary Organisations

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of recent illegal activity by paramilitary organisations; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: There is no doubt that paramilitary organisations continue to engage in illegal activity. The IMC report which was published on 4 November 2004 provided a clear assessment of the extent of the involvement of both loyalist and republican paramilitary organisations in organised crime and other forms of criminality. The Government have consistently made clear that there can be absolutely no place for terrorist activity or criminal activity and I call on all paramilitary groups to cease all of their activities.

Intelligence

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions he has had with the Chief Constable about improving the intelligence gathering capacity of the Police Service of Northern Ireland in respect of criminal activity by paramilitary organisations.

Ian Pearson: The Chief Constable and I meet on a regular basis, to discuss security related issues, including intelligence matters.
	The Police Service of Northern Ireland uses the National Intelligence Model to manage the gathering, analysis and dissemination of intelligence. This relates to all levels of criminality from serious and organised crime to volume crime. As with all such systems, it is constantly reviewed for effectiveness.
	The Chief Constable has fully implemented the Patten recommendations in relation to Special Branch and a new Crime Operations Department has been created. This ensures that there is effective sharing of intelligence information with those investigating organised crime.

Hospital Cleaners

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many cleaners are employed at each hospital in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: Information requested is provided in the following table.
	
		Number of domestic cleaning staff employed at each hospital in Northern Ireland
		
			 Hospital Headcount Whole-time equivalent 
		
		
			 Altnagelvin Area Hospital 101 69.65 
			 Antrim Area Hospital 287 171.54 
			 Ards Hospital 27 11.96 
			 Banbridge Polyclinic 1 0.87 
			 Bangor Hospital 8 4.78 
			 Belfast City Hospital 204 40.41 
			 Causeway Hospital 75 38.88 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital 157 76.00 
			 Daisy Hill Hospital 66 36.45 
			 Dalriada Hospital 10 5.91 
			 Downe Hospital 18 14.93 
			 Downshire Hospital 38 25.48 
			 Erne Hospital 74 40.57 
			 Forster Green Hospital 24 20.66 
			 Gransha Hospital 39 25.50 
			 Holywell Hospital 69 49.57 
			 Lagan Valley Hospital 59 39.15 
			 Longstone 46 21.19 
			 Lurgan Hospital 18 8.17 
			 Mater Hospital 100 71.00 
			 Muckamore Hospital 80 56.00 
			 Mullinure 13 9.89 
			 Musgrave Park Hospital 124 81.15 
			 Purdysburn Hospital 83 54.34 
			 Robinson Hospital 5 3.10 
			 Royal Hospital 511 323.73 
			 South Tyrone 20 11.83 
			 St. Lukes 48 27.22 
			 Stradreagh Hospital 7 4.80 
			 Thompson House Hospital 7 3.39 
			 Tyrone County Hospital 48 26.50 
			 Tyrone and Fermanagh Hospital54 33.20 
			 Ulster Hospital 300 97.34 
			 Waterside Hospital 12 9.30 
			 Whiteabbey Hospital 3 2.07 
			 Total 2,736 1,516.53 
		
	
	Source:
	NI HSS Trusts

Hospital Cleaners

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many cleaners were employed (a) at hospitals in Northern Ireland and (b) elsewhere within the local NHS in (i) 1985 and (ii) 1995.

Angela Smith: Not all Trusts were able to provide historic staffing figures for the time periods requested. Of those that were, the information is provided in the tables.
	
		Number of domestic cleaning staff employed in hospitals in Northern Ireland in 1985 and 1995
		
			  1985 1995 
			 Hospital Headcount WTE Headcount WTE 
		
		
			 Banbridge Hospital n/a n/a 14 5.69 
			 Belfast City Hospital n/a n/a 264 155.57 
			 Causeway HSS Trust 42 31.48 65 38.46 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital n/a n/a 102 60.00 
			 Greenpark HSS Trust 239 175.50 124 78.34 
			 Homefirst Community  Trust n/a n/a 99 60.59 
			 Lurgan Hospital n/a n/a 15 5.30 
			 Muckamore Hospital n/a n/a 115 78.02 
			 Royal Hospital n/a n/a 565 365.00 
		
	
	n/a = Information not available.
	Source:
	NI HSS Trusts
	
		Number of domestic cleaning staff employed elsewhere within the local NHS in 1985 and 1995
		
			  1985 1995 
			  Headcount WTE Headcount WTE 
		
		
			 Trust 
			 Causeway HSS Trust 21 13.35 25 13.22 
			 Craigavon and Banbridge Comm. n/a n/a 23 15.88 
			  
			 HSS Trust 
			 Homefirst Community Trust n/a n/a 101 42.88 
			 North and West Belfast Trust n/a n/a 90 47.24 
		
	
	n/a = Information not available.
	Source:
	NI HSS Trusts

Hospital Cleaners

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland at which health trusts in the Province cleaning services are (a) outsourced, (b) directly managed and (c) a combination of outsourced and directly managed.

Angela Smith: Information requested is provided in the following table.
	
		Health trusts in Northern Ireland where cleaning services are (a) outsourced, (b) directly managed and (c) a combination of outsourced and directly managed
		
			 NI HPSS Trust Cleaning services outsourced Cleaning services directly managed Combination 
		
		
			 Altnagelvin Group HSS Trust Yes — — 
			 Armagh and Dungannon HSS Trust — Yes — 
			 Belfast City Hospital HSS Trust — Yes — 
			 Causeway HSS Trust — Yes — 
			 Craigavon and Banbridge Community HSS Trust — — Yes 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital Group HSS Trust Yes — — 
			 Down Lisburn HSS Trust — Yes — 
			 Foyle Community HSS Trust — — Yes 
			 Greenpark Healthcare HSS Trust Yes — — 
			 Homefirst Community HSS Trust — Yes — 
			 Mater Infirmorum Hospital HSS Trust — Yes — 
			 Newry and Mourne HSS Trust — Yes — 
			 North and West Belfast HSS Trust — Yes — 
			 Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trust — Yes — 
			 South and East Belfast HSS Trust — Yes — 
			 Sperrin Lakeland HSS Trust — — Yes 
			 Ulster Community and Hospitals Group HSS Trust — Yes — 
			 United Hospitals Group HSS Trust — Yes — 
			 Total 3 12 3 
		
	
	Source:
	NI HSS Trusts

Paramilitary Prisoners

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many prisoners in Northern Ireland are being given separated status; and how many belong to each relevant paramilitary group.

Ian Pearson: Currently 64 prisoners have been given separated status. This is made up of 22 Republican and 42 Loyalists prisoners.
	It is not possible to provide figures for affiliations to each paramilitary group with absolute certainty.
	However, the perceived affiliations are as follows.
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Republican 22 
			 Made up of:  
			 CIRA 4 
			 RIRA 14 
			 PIRA 3 
			 INLA 1 
			   
			 Loyalist 42 
			 Made up of:  
			 UVF 14 
			 UFF 5 
			 UDA 21 
			 Loyalist 1 
			 No traces 1

Street Lighting

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many recorded incidents, excluding those caused by weather, vandalism or damage caused by contractors, resulted in the interruption of electricity supplies to street lighting in Northern Ireland in the last 12 months; and what the average duration was of such faults to the electricity supply.

John Spellar: The Chief Executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has been asked to write to the hon. Member in response to this question.
	Letter from Dr. Malcolm McKibbin to Lady Hermon, dated 19 January 2005
	You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question about the number of recorded incidents and average duration of interruption of electricity supplies to street lighting in the last 12 months (209121). I have been asked to reply as the issue of street lighting falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service.
	I should explain that while Roads Service is responsible for the provision and maintenance of street lighting, responsibility for the continuity of electrical supply to the lights rests with Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE).
	Roads Service officials are presently liaising with NIE to obtain the details that you have requested, and I will forward the information to you in due course.
	I hope this information is helpful.

Central Government Grant

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much each (a) nation and (b) region of the United Kingdom received in central Government grant in the latest year for which figures are available, listed in descending order.

Paul Boateng: Data relating to total identifiable expenditure by central and local government can be found within chapter 8 of Public Expenditure, Statistical Analyses 2004 (Cm6201), a copy of which can be found in the Library of the House. Table 8.1 details identifiable expenditure by nation and region of the United Kingdom for the years 1998–99 to 2002–03, the latest year for which data are available.

National Debt

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the level of national debt in (a) 2009–10 and (b) what it was in 1997–98.

Paul Boateng: Outturn figures for public sector net debt are available on the Office for National Statistics website: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/tsdtables1.asp? vlnk=fsf
	Table 1.1A: Public Sector Finances (series RUTO) shows figures for public sector net debt as a percentage of GDP.
	The latest available projections for public sector net debt for 2009–10 are published by HM Treasury in Table B9: Current and Capital Budgets on page 204 of the Pre-Budget Report 2004.

School-age Children (Drug Deaths)

John Mann: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer how many school-age children died from drug misuse in each of the last 10 years.

Stephen Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. John Mann, dated 19 January 2005
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many school-age children died from drug misuse in each of the last ten years. (209091)
	The latest available data are for 2002. The figures requested are given in the table below:
	
		Drug misuse-related(20) deaths, children aged 5 to 16,(21) England and Wales, 1993–2002 3
		
			 Calendar year Number of deaths 
		
		
			 1993 10 
			 1994 12 
			 1995 16 
			 1996 13 
			 1997 11 
			 1998 14 
			 1999 10 
			 2000 10 
			 2001 11 
			 2002 6 
		
	
	(20) Defined as deaths where the underlying cause is poisoning, drug abuse or drug dependence and where any of the substances controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act (1971) are involved.
	(21) Compulsory school age.
	(22) Data are for occurrences of death per calendar year.
	Source:
	Office for National Statistics

UK Economy (London's Contribution)

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage contribution London has made to the UK economy in each of the last seven years.

Stephen Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Andrew Rosindell, dated 19 January 2005
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the percentage contribution London has made to the UK economy in each of the last seven years. (209494)
	In order to give a measure of the economy gross value added 1 (GVA) is used. The latest published information is for 2003.
	The estimates shown in the table below, are based on the regional gross value added 1 (GVA) estimates published in December 2004. These are available on the National Statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme economy/RegionalGVA.pdf
	
		
			  London GVA at current basic prices (NUTS1 Area) Total UK GVA at current basic prices less Extra-Regio2 Percentage contribution of London to the UK economy 
		
		
			 1997 110,854 704,744 15.7 
			 1998 121,604 748,872 16.2 
			 1999 129,002 782,682 16.5 
			 2000 134,658 816,549 16.5 
			 2001 141,464 859,795 16.5 
			 2002 151,107 906,000 16.7 
			 2003 155,069 951,692 16.3 
		
	
	(23) Information represented here is gross value added (GVA) which is gross domestic product (GDP) less taxes (plus subsidies) on products.
	(24) Extra-Regio is that part of the UK's economic territory which cannot be allocated to any specific region.

Vale of Clwyd Constituency

Chris Ruane: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out, including statistical information relating as closely as possible to the constituency, the effect on Vale of Clwyd constituency of his Department's policies since 1997.

Stephen Timms: The Government have put in place a radical programme of both Macro-economic and micro-economic reform since our election in 1997 to improve the economic performance of all parts of the UK. There is significant evidence that these policies have already yielded considerable benefits for the Vale of Clwyd constituency. For example, since May 1997, claimant unemployment has fallen by 52 per cent., and both long-term unemployment and long-term youth unemployment have nearly been eliminated, with falls of 91 per cent. and 81 per cent. respectively.
	The Neighbourhood Statistics Service provides a wide range of statistical information at Parliamentary constituency level, taken from the 2001 Census and other sources. This service is available on the National Statistics website at http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk./.

Building Energy Standards

David Amess: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the fuel cost data provided for the revision of building energy standards takes account of the leakage of natural gas during (a) processing, (b) transmission, (c) storage and (d) distribution; and whether his Department has studied records of leakage in the USA.

Phil Hope: The fuel cost data used in the review of the energy efficiency standards required by Building Regulations reflect typical UK market prices and include all costs associated with delivering fuel to the point of use. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has not studied US leakage data but it is investigating how the global warming implications of gas leaks in the supply system can be taken into account.

Departmental Staff/Running Costs

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many staff are employed by his Office; and what its annual running costs are.

Yvette Cooper: Information on the projected average number of staff employed by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for the 2004–05 financial year can be found in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Annual Report 2004 (pages 123–124) which is available in the Library of the House and electronically at: http://www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/groups/odpm about/documents/downloadable/odpm about 028551.pdf
	The total running costs, including pay and non-pay costs are forecasted to be around £328 million for the 2004–05 financial year.

Graffiti

Liam Byrne: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what (a) obligations are incumbent on and (b) powers are at the disposal of local authorities to clean (i) publicly and (ii) privately owned properties of graffiti; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: In 2002, the cross-government review "Living Places: Powers, Rights and Responsibilities" consulted on obligation and powers for tackling environmental crimes, including graffiti. Since then we have strengthened and streamlined powers to tackle graffiti.
	The Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 included powers to issue Fixed Penalty Notices for graffiti on public property, enabling local authorities to issue such notices to people who commit "minor" acts of graffiti and to allow all local authorities to retain income from Fixed Penalty Notices issued for graffiti for use in local environmental improvements.
	In the case of graffiti on private buildings owners are expected to remove it. However, Section 48–52 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act introduced new powers to enable local authorities to issue graffiti removal notices against the owners of property in or on the street where this is not done.
	The "Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill" currently before Parliament proposes further clauses to vary the level of fixed penalty notices, require the name and address of those receiving fixed penalties and extend "authorised officers" able to issue notices. It also proposes a duty on local weights and measures authorities to undertake enforcement of their powers to tackle the sale of spray paints to children under 16 to try reduce the incidence of graffiti.

Home Ownership

Karen Buck: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  if he will break down the low cost home ownership units planned for Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea in the Housing Corporation's 2004–06 Approved Developed Programme by (a) one-bed, (b) two-bed, (c) three-bed and (d) four-bed or more;
	(2)  if he will break down the low cost home ownership units planned for Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea in the Housing Corporation's 2004–06 Approved Developed Programme by (a) conventional shared ownership, (b) Do-It-Yourself shared ownership, (c) Homebuy and (d) other forms of low cost home ownership.

Keith Hill: pursuant to my reply, 7 December 2004, Official Report, c. 458–59W
	on low cost home ownership in Westminster, and Kensington and Chelsea, I stated that 155 ADP Homebuy Market Purchase dwellings were allocated to the Northern zone, which includes Westminster, Islington, Haringey, Enfield, Camden and Barnet. The current figure is 20 allocated to Westminster alone. The figure I gave of 296 Keyworker Homebuy allocations to the Northern zone should be 340.
	For Kensington and Chelsea I omitted to give the 16 Homebuy dwellings allocated to the borough itself; and the figure of 296 I gave for the Western zone of seven authorities (Kensington and Chelsea, Hounslow, Hillingdon, Harrow, Hammersmith and Fulham, Ealing and Brent) should have been 334.
	A copy of the amended table for all London boroughs has been placed in the Library of the House.

Housing

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many permanent dwellings were constructed in the United Kingdom in each year since 1979 by (a) registered social landlords, (b) local authorities and (c) private enterprise; and how many were in England in each case.

Keith Hill: Annual house building information for the United Kingdom and England from 1979 onwards is published in "Housing Statistics 2004" (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister) in Tables 2.5a and 2.5c. The tables are also on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website:
	http://www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/groups/odpm control/documents/contentservertemplate/odpm index.hcst?n= l566&1=3
	[Housing—Housing Statistics—Live Tables—Housebuilding—Table 241 (UK) or 244 (England)]

Housing

Oona King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the availability of an environmental health officer to identify an unlicensed House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) with three or more storeys and five or more occupants as compared to identifying an unlicensed HMO with three or more storeys.

Keith Hill: The identifying of House in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) requiring licensing is a matter for individual local authorities. There are a number of sources available to them, including council tax and housing benefit data. Local housing authorities will also have powers to require owners, managers and occupiers of HMOs to provide information for the purpose of determining the number of occupants. Failure to provide such information without reasonable excuse will be a criminal offence.

Housing

Oona King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which organisations support establishing the threshold for the mandatory House in Multiple Occupation licensing scheme of three or more storeys and five or more occupants.

Keith Hill: In response to the consultation on the draft Housing Bill the following organisations supported the establishment of the threshold for mandatory licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation at three or more storeys with five or more occupants (comprised in two or more households):
	St. David's Community Group
	Centrepoint
	Unipol
	Lincoln City Council.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will have a clearer idea of the range of views on the proposed threshold following responses to the consultation paper "Licensing in the Private Rented Sector—Consultation on the Implementation of HMO Licensing".
	The closing date for responses is 9 February.

Housing

Oona King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what threshold for the mandatory House in Multiple Occupation licensing scheme was proposed by (a) the Local Government Association and (b) the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health.

Keith Hill: In response to the consultation on the draft Housing Bill, the Local Government Association proposed that mandatory licensing should apply to Houses in Multiple Occupation of two or more storeys and occupied by four or more persons. The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health suggested that guidance should be issued on the scope of licensing, but proposed no specific threshold for mandatory licensing.

Local Government Finance

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether he will provide additional grant to local authorities to refund lost grant arising from amendments to their 2003–04 grant consequent upon errors in population estimates for 2001; and whether he is setting aside amounts to refund authorities for retrospective reductions in their 2004–05 grant arising from errors in population estimates for 2002 by the Department.

Nick Raynsford: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has always been clear that we would issue an Amending Report for the 2003–04 settlement to incorporate the revised 2001 population estimates. It is only fair that authorities should receive the correct amount of grant relative to the updated population estimates. Indeed, we consulted on options for the 2003–04 and 2004–05 Amending Reports last summer.
	However, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister appreciates that it is not possible for authorities that receive less grant under the Amending Report than they did under the original Local Government Finance Report to reopen their budgets for 2003–04. For this reason we will pay, or recover, any changes in 2003–04 grant amounts during 2005–06; and we have proposed amending the floor damping scheme for 2005–06 to ensure that all authorities should receive at least the floor increase in their formula grant after paying back any money owed under the 2003–04 Amending Report.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister proposes that similar arrangements be put in place for the 2004–05 Amending Report.

Local Government Finance

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister for what reasons Hampshire is combined with the Isle of Wight for the purpose of area cost adjustment calculations; and what assessment he has made of the impact that this has on Hampshire's grant allocations.

Nick Raynsford: In calculating the area cost adjustment (ACA), authorities are grouped together to make sure that there is enough wage data in each area to produce ACA factors which are robust and stable from year to year. Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are grouped together and so receive the same area cost adjustment. On balance, the New Earnings Survey sample size for the Isle of Wight is such that their labour costs cannot be estimated with the same degree of precision as other, more populous, areas. The Isle of Wight sample size is no larger than other unitary, metropolitan or London boroughs that we have combined together in order to avoid small samples. This grouping for the ACA treats all authorities more consistently.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not normally exemplify the effect of options that were not adopted in the formula review for subsequent years.

Local Government Finance

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the impact of the Local Government Finance Settlement 2005–06 on the level of council tax.

Nick Raynsford: The provisional local government finance settlement for 2005–06 provides an increase in formula grant of 5.6 per cent. and we have been able to guarantee that, for the third successive year, all authorities receive a grant increase which is at least above the rate of inflation. Overall grant increases by £3.5 billion or 6.2 per cent., which means that since we took office we have increased Government grant to local government by 33 per cent. in real terms.
	Given this substantial investment in local government and scope for efficiency gains, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister expects to see significantly lower council tax increases next year. We expect all authorities to budget prudently and minimise demands on council taxpayers. Average council tax increase in England in 2005–06 should be less than 5 per cent. We are prepared to take even tougher capping action than we did in 2004–05. This applies to all authorities, including police and fire authorities.

Social Housing (Right to Buy)

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on the eligibility of housing association tenants for the right to buy;
	(2)  how many housing association tenants are eligible for the right to buy.

Keith Hill: Around 870,000 housing association tenants have the Right to Buy or the Preserved Right to Buy their rented homes.
	The Right to Buy is available to approximately 65,000 pre-1988 secure tenants of non-charitable housing associations. Housing association properties were generally let on secure tenancies until 1988 but all new lettings since then have been on assured tenancies which do not include the Right to Buy.
	In addition, some 805,000 former local authority tenants of housing stock which have been transferred to housing associations retain a Preserved Right to Buy.

Supporting People Grants

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether his Department plans to use a revised formula for the Supporting People grant allocations for 2005–06; and if he will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: The Supporting People grant allocations for 2005–06, announced on 2 December 2004, were partly informed by a new needs based distribution formula. The overall size of the Supporting People budget has reduced in 2005–06 by 5 per cent. The Government made a commitment to limit any decrease in grant to individual authorities to no more than 7.5 per cent. The majority of authorities received the average reduction of 5 per cent. The formula, which is intended to help allocate funds to areas of greatest relative need, was only used to inform grant levels to those authorities likely to receive longer term increases or decreases in funding.
	The Government will shortly launch a formal consultation on the Supporting People Distribution Formula to be used for allocations beyond 2005–06.

Avient

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make an assessment of the extent to which the Statement on Avient by the UK National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines accords with Government policy on mercenary operations in Africa.

Douglas Alexander: The statement made by the National Contact Point for OECD guidelines is consistent with the policy of HMG towards Private Military and Security Companies.
	Following the growth in the size and importance of the UK private security industry operating overseas my right hon. friend the Foreign Secretary has recently instituted a further detailed review of options for regulation of Private Military and Security Companies. The Government will keep Parliament fully informed of its thinking in this area.

Avient

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what interpretation she places on the reference in the Statement on Avient by the UK National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines that Avient's M124 attack helicopter crew was involved in the relief of isolated places.

Douglas Alexander: Avient have admitted they supplied, but did not task, a helicopter crew for the recognised government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to support military operations. Avient were informed later that the crew were used in the relief of Kigali from rebel forces.
	In its Statement the NCP recommended that in their future activities, Avient
	"Respect the human rights of those affected by their activities consistent with the host government's international obligations and commitments."

CAB Funding

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will ensure that funding for Citizens Advice bureaux is ring-fenced.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Each Citizens Advice bureau is an independent charity and organises its own funding. The largest contribution frequently comes from local authorities, but most bureaux also gain funding from a number of other sources.
	My Department does not fund any individual bureau directly, nor do I have any say in how local authorities control their budget allocation. That would be a matter for my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister.

CAB Funding

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her policy is on the existence of a national network of Citizens Advice bureaux; and if she will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: My Department funds Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice for Scotland. These are the organisations that support the national network of bureaux by providing training, setting standards for membership, conducting social policy research and producing the database of advice that is used by the network.

Secondment

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the people working within her Department on secondment from the private sector, broken down by (a) the organisation or industry they came from and (b) the policy responsibilities they have been given.

Patricia Hewitt: The following table shows all the people currently working in the Department of Trade and Industry on secondment from the private sector. The table indicates the organisation they came from and the name of the DTI directorate to which the secondee is attached.
	
		
			 Name Organisation name DTI directorate 
		
		
			 Professor Christine Adams SIRA Ltd. Technology Innovation and Sustainable Development 
			 Mr. Martyn Allen BAE Systems UK Trade and Investment 
			 Ms Rita Barallon LGC Ltd. Technology Innovation and Sustainable Development 
			 Mr. Mike Barradell KPMG Business Relations 1 
			 Mr. Frederick Bassnett Raylian London Ltd. UK Trade and Investment 
			 Ms Fahima Begum BT plc Business Relations 2 
			 Mr. Norman Bolton TUV NEL Ltd. Technology Innovation and Sustainable Development 
			 Ms Debbie Boswell British Jewellery and Giftware Federation UK Trade and Investment 
			 Mr. Edwin Bowles Exploration Consultants Ltd. UK Trade and Investment 
			 Ms Sara Brazendale Reuters Ltd. Business Relations 2 
			 Mr. David Brooks BP plc Business Support 
			 Ms Jennifer Churchward Ernst and Young UK Trade and Investment 
			 Mr. Peter Concannon, FaberMaunsell Business Relations 2 
			 Mr. Graham Cook PKF Regions 
			 Mr. Brian Nicholas Cook UK PIA Energy Markets Unit 
			 Mr. David Crookes RWE npower plc Energy Innovation and Business Unit 
			 Mr. Adam Dawson Shell Information Technologies International Business Support 
			 Mr. Mark Donougher Pricewaterhouse Coopers UK Trade and Investment 
			 Dr. lan Downey Science Systems (Space) Ltd. British National Space Centre 
			 Ms Melanie Evans BAE Systems Plc Business Relations 1 
			 Mr. Paul Fawcett HSBC Bank plc UK Trade and Investment 
			 Dr. Andy Feest AEA Technology plc Business Relations 1 
			 Dr. Hilary Hartigan NPL Management Ltd. Technology Innovation and Sustainable Development 
			 Mr. Nick Heyes Marine Electronic Services Ltd. Business Relations 1 
			 Mr. Christopher Hill Shell UK Exploration and Production Energy Innovation and Business Unit 
			 Ms Judith Hopson Marine Electronic Services Ltd. Business Relations 1 
			 Mr. Thomas Huang British Nuclear Fuel plc UK Trade and Investment 
			 Mr. Robert Hudson Hyder Consulting Ltd. UK Trade and Investment 
			 Mr. Marcus Jackson Ernst and Young Regions 
			 Ms Rosie Janes BDO Stoy Hayward LLP Corporate Law and Governance 
			 Dr. James Johnstone NPL Management Ltd. Technology Innovation and Sustainable Development 
			 Miss Alexia Jones Deluca UK Trade and Investment 
			 Mr. Errol Levy Astrium UK Ltd. British National Space Centre 
			 Mr. Jonathan Lonsdale Ecotec Research and Consulting Ltd. Business Relations 1 
			 Ms Carolyn Luke BAE Systems plc Business Relations 1 
			 Dr. Christopher Mansfield Shell UK Exploration and Production Energy Markets Unit 
			 Mr. Richard Mrowicki British Nuclear Fuel plc Energy Industries Technologies Unit 
			 Mr. Noah Myers URS Corporation Ltd. Business Relations 1 
			 Mr. Allan Ockenden Mott MacDonald Group Ltd. UK Trade and Investment 
			 Mr. Ray Parkinson British Nuclear Fuel plc Energy Industries Technologies Unit 
			 Mr. Phillip Patterson Association of Independent Music Ltd. UK Trade and Investment 
			 Dr. Robert Quarshie Corus Group plc Business Relations 1 
			 Ms Magdalena Roel BP plc Europe and World Trade 
			 Mr. Mark Russell KPMG Regions 
			 Ms Man] it Sahota BAE Systems plc Business Relations 1 
			 Mr. Robin Sellers British Nuclear Fuel plc Energy Industries Technologies Unit 
			 Mr. Michael Shanks RWE Innogy plc Business Relations 1 
			 Mr. Garth Shephard Envisage Ltd. Office of Science and Technology / Transdepartmental Science and Technology 
			 Ms Elaine Simpson British Nuclear Fuel plc Energy Industries Technologies Unit 
			 Mr. Martyn Skinner Tate and Lyle plc UK Trade and Investment 
			 Mr. Robin Sloan Ove Arup and Partners UK Trade and Investment 
			 Mr. James Stephens BAE Systems plc Business Relations 1 
			 Mr. Gordon Stevenson Lee and Alien Consulting Ltd. Corporate Law and Governance 
			 Mr. Risto Talas Maritime and Underwater Consultants Ltd. UK Trade and Investment 
			 Mr. Peter Tandy British Nuclear Fuel plc Energy Industries Technologies Unit 
			 Mr. Gary Taylor British Nuclear Fuel plc Energy Industries Technologies Unit 
			 Mr. John Vernon Drinks Marketing Consortium Ltd. UK Trade and Investment 
			 Mr. John Vimpany Exhibition Consultants Ltd. UK Trade and Investment 
			 Mr. John von Speyr DSL Consultants Ltd. UK Trade and Investment 
			 Mr. David Warner British Nuclear Fuel plc Energy Industries Technologies Unit 
			 Mr. Frank Watson IBM (UK) Office of Science and Technology / Transdepartmental Science and Technology 
			 Mr. Jeremy Webb Pricewaterhouse Coopers Shareholder Executive 
			 Mr. David Williams Gilbert Gilkes and Gordon Ltd. UK Trade and Investment 
			 Ms Barbara Wilson Corgi Hosiery Ltd. UK Trade and Investment 
			 Mr. Gordon Wright BAE Systems plc UK Trade and Investment 
			 Mr. John Wright Kellogg Brown and Root Ltd. UK Trade and Investment

Departmental Expenditure

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the running costs of the Department were in each year since 1997, broken down by (a) electricity, (b) water, (c) gas, (d) telephones, (e) mobile telephones and (f) televisions.

Bill Rammell: The running costs for the years were as follows:
	
		
			  £000 
			  1999– 2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 (a) Electricity 7,545 8,490 9,501 9,184 9,570 
			 (b) Water 1,515 1,555 1,737 1,559 1,586 
			 (c) Gas 780 937 931 1,064 1,091 
			 (d) Telephones 12,281 12,882 12,441 14,714 12,823 
			 (e) Mobile telephones — — — 4 55 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures prior to 1999–2000 are not available on a comparable basis.
	2. The cost of mobile telephones was accounted for separately from telephones only from the year 2002–03.
	3. The running costs of televisions are not identifiable from the accounting records.

Southwark Primary Care Trust

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients in the Southwark Primary Care Trust area referred urgently with suspected breast cancer waited for more than two weeks for an out-patient appointment in each reporting period since January 2002; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: The information requested is shown in the table. 
	
		Breast cancer waiting times following urgent referral Urgent referrals received within 24 hours
		
			QuarterYearNHS trust  Percentage compliance with the two week standard   Total referrals seen during the quarter Number of patients seen during the quarter by a specialist after 14 days of the decision to refer by their general practitioner 
		
		
			 Q2 2004–05 Guys and St. Thomas' Hospital NHS Trust 100 120 0 
			 Q1 2004–05 Guys and St. Thomas' Hospital NHS Trust 100 145 0 
			 Q4 2003–04 Guys and St. Thomas' Hospital NHS Trust 100 144 0 
			 Q3 2003–04 Guys and St. Thomas' Hospital NHS Trust 100 104 0 
			 Q2 2003–04 Guys and St. Thomas' Hospital NHS Trust 100 92 0 
			 Q1 2003–04 Guys and St. Thomas' Hospital NHS Trust 100 87 0 
			 Q4 2002–03 Guys and St. Thomas' Hospital NHS Trust 100 72 0 
			 Q3 2002–03 Guys and St. Thomas' Hospital NHS Trust 100 83 0 
			 Q2 2002–03 Guys and St. Thomas' Hospital NHS Trust 100 85 0 
			 Q1 2002–03 Guys and St. Thomas' Hospital NHS Trust 96.9 65 2 
			 Q2 2004–05 King's College Hospital NHS Trust 96.9 71 1 
			 Q1 2004–05 King's College Hospital NHS Trust 100 70 0 
			 Q4 2003–04 King's College Hospital NHS Trust 100 97 0 
			 Q3 2003–04 King's College Hospital NHS Trust 100 100 0 
			 Q2 2002–03 King's College Hospital NHS Trust 100 96 0 
			 Q1 2002–03 King's College Hospital NHS Trust 100 68 0 
		
	
	Note:
	1. Data available from March 2002 to September 2004
	Source:
	2004—Cancer Waiting Times Database—prior to this the data was collected via the QMCW Korner return..